Electric furnace.



No. 783,736. PATENTED FEB. 28, 1905. G. O. SEWARD.

ELECTRIC FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3, 1904.

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UNITED STATES Patented February 28, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE O. SEW ARD. OF HOLOOMBS ROCK, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE TVILLSON ALUMINUM COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORA- TION OF NETV YORK.

ELECTRIC FURNACE.

SPECIFICATIQH forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 783,736, dated February 28, 1905.

Application filed May 3, 1904. Serial No. 206.251.

To all whom it many concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE O. S EWARD, a citizen of the United States, residingat Holcombs Rock, in the county of Bedford and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Furnaces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention aims to provide certain improvements in the tops of electric furnaces to through which an electrode or electrodes pass, and provides a very convenient construction which permits the passage of any number of electrodes through the same metallic furnacetop.

The invention also provides very simply for the use of electrodes of different sizes with a single furnace-top. It also facilitates the making of repairs and lessens the damage to the top due to the establishment of arcs from the electrodes. here the electrodes are introduced through a cover or covering-plate or wall which is not, strictly speaking, the top of the furnace, the invention isalso applicable.

It is common in electric furnaces Where more than one electrode is introduced into the furnace-cavity to introduce them through the cover (ordinarily the top) of the furnace. This is ordinarily a flat plate of iron which may be double-walled and water-cooled. here the two electrodes are passed through the same cover, the latter is formed in sections insulated from each other. This is necessary whether thetwo electrodes are of differing polarity or potential or are of the same polarity. This 3 5 in vrntion accomplishes the same results by the simple expedient of using a separate lid for each electrode, this lid being a ring fitting around the electrode and carried by the cover in any suitable manner, as by fitting within 4 an aperture of suitable shape and size in the cover. These separate lids may be very conveniently insulated from the cover, and thus the electrode which each lid carries is separately insulated from the cover, and two or more electrodes are insulated thereby from each other. This construction has the further advantage that in case of an accident and the establishment of an are from the electrode it is only the special lid of that electrode which is damaged, and a new lid can be supplied very 5 quickly without even removing the furnacecover. Furthermore, by making lids adapted to lit the samefurnace-cover and adapted to carry electrodes of different sizes the size of the electrodes may-be changed without the necessity of changing the cover.

Certain other improvements are referred to hereinafter in detail.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an embodin'lcnt'of the invention.

Figure 1 is a plan through a simple pot-furnace having two electrodes. Fig. 2 is an enlarged section through one .of the lids. Fig.

3 is a plan, partly in horizontal section, of the lid shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to the embodiment of the invention illustrated, A is the crucible or pot, and B O are two electrodes of opposite polarity projecting thereinto.

1) is the cover, which in this case is a flat 7 top, made hollow for the circulation of water for cooling. The openings for admission of material and for discharge of gases are not illustrated, not being pertinent to this invention, and they may be arranged in any ordinary or suitable manner. Aperturcs are provided in the cover I) for each of the electrodes and are somewhat larger than the electrodes. Each electrode passes through a central aperture in the lid E, which has a depending por- 0 tion entering the aperture of the cover and which has a horizontal flange F overlying the top of the cover. The lid is sullicientlr smaller than the aperture of the cover in which it fits to permit of the introduction bo- 5 tween the lid and the cover of a paeking-ring G, of asbestos, asbestos cloth, or other lireproof insulating material. The lids E are preferably water-cooled, being provided for this purpose with a circumferential passage 9 H and suitable openings for the admission and discharge of the water.

The improved construction described is of use not only where more than one electrode passes through the same cover, but also with a single electrode, where it is desired to insulate it from the cover or to cool it or to facilitate the use of electrodes of different sizes Without having to use a different cover for each electrode.

Though I have described with great particularity of detail a specific structure embodying my invention, yet it is not to be understood therefrom that the invention is limited to the specific embodiment disclosed. Various modifications thereof in detail and in the arrangement and combination of the parts may be made by those skilled in the art without departure from the invention.

What I claim is 1. The combination with an electric-furnace cover through which an electrode passes, of a separate lid forming a complete ring around the electrode for holding the same in position.

2. The combination with an electric-furnace cover through which an electrode passes, of a separate lid carried by and insulated from said cover, for holding the electrode in position.

3. The combination with an electric-furnace cover having an aperture through which an electrode passes, of a separate lid litting within said aperture and holding the electrode in position.

L. The combination with an electric-firmer. cover having an aperture through which an electrode passes, of a separate lid E fitting within said aperture and having a flange F extending over the face of the cover whereby said lid is held in place on said cover, said lid holding an electrode in position.

5. The combination with an electric-furnace cover through which an electrode passes, of a separate lid forming a complete ring around the electrode for holding the same in position, said lid having a passage for the circulation of cooling-water.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

Ur EORGE SIG\VAR1).

Witnesses:

Uruo. 'l. LANCASTER, F. vox Ktuunuux. 

